The present invention relates generally to policy deconfliction.
Policy is a function that takes many forms, from guidance to executable instructions. Policy is becoming increasingly important as a horizontal function that crosses system boundaries. Policy is authored by many authorities in many forms of representation. These policies may be related hierarchically or by multi-party agreements. System functions must perform in a manner consistent with the complete set of policies applicable to a specific function within a given environment. An automated system of identifying conflicts (anything that would result in a non-deterministic decision process) in a policy set is required to insure that policy is executed as defined. The present invention addresses this.
More particularly, policy today is primarily authored within organizations according to hierarchical directives. Policy is enforced by independent, system-specific (stove-pipe) implementations. Policy is static, in that changes go through processes that result in manually coordinated system maintenance or “manual overrides.”
Current policy implementations are system-specific, not an external horizontal (cross-system) function. Deconfliction today is limited to “compiler” (e.g., invalid attribute name), system-specific functions (e.g., make sure total allocation≦100%), or theoretical approaches such as theorem provers.
Theorem provers may be used to solve the problem of identifying simple conflicts associated with specific languages, but have not been practical due to complexity and computational limitations when targeted at cross-system policy solutions.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a policy deconfliction method and software that insures that a policy is “executable.”